


Meet Me Under The Mistletoe?

by uniumiuni



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Party, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Mistletoe, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Pining, Reiner Braun Gets a Hug, Reiner Braun Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniumiuni/pseuds/uniumiuni
Summary: Reiner Braun unexpectedly develops feelings for his co-worker and tries to push them away until an upcoming Christmas party with an abundance of mistletoe prompts him to face those feelings.
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Jean Kirstein
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Meet Me Under The Mistletoe?

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first fanfic. it's written in the modern AU, so it might feel a little OOC! sorry if it does, i've only just gotten into writing. i hope you'll like it! JeaRei is such an underrated ship

Reiner Braun never thought he would be able to fall for someone again. The past three times he had did not end well. One did not return his feelings, another had fallen out of love, and his most recent one was controlling to an extreme point to where he had no choice but to leave.

His next love came into his life at an inconvenient point. After getting his life back on track, he moved to a different branch at the company he worked at. He and another man were the two newest workers at this branch and both of them had to settle down at this new position as soon as possible. 

Reiner found out that this man was none other than Jean Kirstein, a former classmate of his from high school. Reiner got along with him quite early and he knew he was someone he could count on. Besides the fact that they were desk mates, the two were barely seen apart.

Perhaps it wasn't intentional, but Jean was slightly more caring with Reiner than the other employees at the office. After catching up with him and hearing about the various happenings in the man’s life, Jean always checked in on him every day and was always there to provide support whenever he needed it. 

On the more stressful days, Jean went out of his way to help him with any paperwork tasks and errands and even stayed overtime with him so he wouldn't get lonely. Reiner didn't mind at all. He thought it was so sweet of Jean to do this and it made life easier. 

Of course, it caught on within the office and the others started to call Jean “Reiner's work husband." It didn't bother him or Reiner that much. Many other people had work husbands and wives of their own, so this wasn't out of place. 

What bothered Reiner the most was the onset of feelings for his coworker. It wasn't surprising since Jean was charming in terms of personality and especially in appearance. He wasn't ready yet for another relationship and the last thing he needed right now was to feel the pain of losing someone again. Perhaps the only way he could handle this was to suppress those emotions to the best of his ability.

Christmas was coming up in a few days, and some people were making plans for winter break and the upcoming holiday work party. It was decided that Connie, a coworker of theirs, would be in charge of planning the party and the employees shared their thoughts about the party planning.

Reiner wasn't one to attend parties often, so he thought his input wouldn't matter. However, during lunch break, Connie asked him about what he'd want to see at the work party and if he was going.

"Oh, I don't know… I might be busy that day." Reiner replied.

"What? Who's busy on Christmas Eve?"

Sasha, one of his coworker buddies, chimed in. "You’d be surprised, Connie. Maybe Reiner might be spending time with family!"

"I don't think anyone says no to spending time with their family for Christmas Eve."

"Uh no?!? You spend Christmas Day with family! That's what it's for!" Connie snapped back.

Sasha rolled her eyes and opened a bag of chips. "Didn't you hear? Reiner said he doesn't spend time on Christmas with his family!"

"How do you expect me to know that?" Connie grumbled as he bit into his lunch.

Reiner's attention was directed to the hand on his shoulder.

"What's up, guys?"

He looked up to find Jean looking down at him with a curious expression. Reiner was startled for a bit before pulling himself together. Sasha waved at Jean and he returned the gesture.

"Um... We were just talking about the party."

"Oh right! Are you going?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Yeah!" Connie butted in, "Also, guess what? They made me the head planner! You got any ideas for me, Jean?"

Jean took the seat next to Reiner and immediately propped his elbows on the table.

"To be honest, I don't know. Why do you ask?"

Connie sighed. "They put me in charge of party planning, and now here I am, with no idea of how to do this shit."

"I mean, you were the first person who volunteered to do it."

"I didn't know it would be this high maintenance!"

"Hey, you took one for the team. It doesn't matter how dumb it sounds, you could come up with anything. It's just for fun anyway. Isn't there something that hasn't been done yet?"

Connie shrugged "Good thing I'm an expert with dumb stuff. How about this, we put mistletoe over every door entrance in the office. How does that sound? Pretty funny if you ask me."

"Wouldn't that be chaotic? I don't think the manager would approve of that idea."

"But it'd be funny and memorable? Ain't that the goal?"

Reiner's mouth got dry from hearing the idea and he didn't want to share his opinion on it, so he reached for his water bottle.

"If your goal is to get me to kiss my work husband, then maybe."

Reiner nearly choked on his water and fell into a coughing fit. Jean snickered and patted his back in response. Sasha quickly covered her mouth and looked away.

“Who do you think I am? That's not MY goal, that's yours!!!”

"I-I *cough* probably won't *cough* even be there!"

"Ah, don't worry Reiner. He's just messing around with you." He wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

Conny checked his watch. "Ooh, there goes the time. We gotta go Sasha. You go have fun with your “work husband”, Reiner!” 

"But we still got like 5-"

"You say that every time! Besides, you already show up 5 minutes before lunch which means your break’s over, come on!”

He got up to throw his trash out and walked back to the office. Sasha followed suit and waved back at them.

Reiner felt his face heat up. _Oh god._ Reiner thought. _What am I going to do now?_ He wasn't prepared for this. It was already difficult to hide his feelings for Jean and the mistletoe idea put him in a loop of nervousness. The thought of him and Jean under the mistletoe was far enough for him. He would have to do whatever it takes to avoid one. 

All he wants now is to hide away from the world and forget all of this, but what would that do? He felt like it was coming to a point where something has to be done, It can't stay like this forever now, can it?

“You alright there, Reiner?”

“I’m fine. Just the same old stuff.”

"You said you're not going to the party?"

"I told'em I'd be busy that day, but I don't know if I can go to another party without having the life drained out of me. I'm not sure what the party’s like anyway.”

"Hey, no worries. It's normal to feel that way. I hear the holiday work parties are chill. If it's anything, I’m going to be there too” Jean puts his hand on Reiner’s shoulder. “Everyone would love to see you there.”

Reiner’s shoulder twitched. They'd… love to see him there? Would that mean Jean would as well? He knew he had to face it one way or another. Was it time to change things now? Was he ready to reveal his feelings? Maybe this party was all he needed to find a way out of this problem. 

_That's it. The only way to gain closure for this is to confess everything to Jean. It's the only way I can move on from here._

“Alright. I think I can make it.”

“Great! I'll see you there, Reiner.” 

Jean flashed a content smile, one that nearly made Reiner’s heart melt. 

His face softened as he beamed in return. 

This is going to be one hell of a party, huh?

~~~

**Author's Note:**

> hi y'all! sorry this chapter was short 😭 i will update the next chapter soon! it was originally going to be one, but i've decided to split it up to make it longer. if anyone's got any questions, comments, or concerns, pls do tell! tysm for reading!


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